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Phone Service
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Service Plans / Phone Service
Match Your Satellite Phone to the Right Plan
Six phone networks live under this category, each tied to its own handset and its own set of plans. Before picking a plan, know which network your phone uses, whether you need steady monthly minutes or a fixed prepaid block, and whether you need voice, push-to-talk or paging.
Start here
How to choose a phone plan
Start with the handset, not the minutes, since the network your device uses decides which plans are even available to you. From there, match plan type to how the phone gets used: steady year-round calling wants a monthly plan, a single expedition wants prepaid, and a phone that mostly waits for an emergency wants the smallest plan you can find.
Step 1
Identify the network your handset uses
Every plan here only works with one network, so the fastest filter is the phone itself. An Iridium 9555 or Extreme 9575 needs an Iridium plan, an IsatPhone 2 needs an Inmarsat plan, and a Thuraya X5-Touch, XT-PRO or XT-LITE needs a Thuraya plan. If you have not bought a handset yet, pick the network by coverage first, then choose from the models sold at satellite phones and radios.
Step 2
Decide how predictable your usage is
A monthly plan renews automatically and suits regular callers who would rather not think about expiry dates. A prepaid plan is a fixed block of minutes with a set validity window, better for a single trip, a season, or a backup phone that sees occasional use. An annual plan prices a full year up front for callers who already know their usage will not change.
Step 3
Check whether you need voice, push-to-talk or paging
Most people just need a normal phone plan, but two categories solve a different problem. Iridium PTT is instant group calling for a crew, not one caller at a time, and needs the Extreme PTT handset or the ICOM IC-SAT100 radio. Iridium Paging is one-way alerting only, for teams that need a notification, not a conversation.
Step 4
Size the plan to the trip, not the year
It is easy to over-buy minutes out of caution. Look at how many minutes a similar past trip actually used, add a margin, and start there; prepaid and monthly plans both scale up easily if you run short, but an oversized annual plan cannot be resized until renewal.
Choose a network
Phone Service plans by network
Iridium
IridiumFor: Anyone who needs voice coverage anywhere on the planet, including both poles, on a rugged handset.
Not for: Anyone who only needs data or messaging rather than voice minutes.
Plans: Monthly plans from 20 to 500 minutes, matching annual plans, plus prepaid options from 100 to 4000 minutes and regional plans for Latin America, the Northern Lights corridor and North Africa.
View Iridium plans →Iridium PTT (Push-To-Talk)
IridiumFor: Teams that need instant push-to-talk group calling across a whole crew, not one-to-one phone calls.
Not for: A single traveler who just wants a normal phone call plan.
Plans: Monthly minute plans starting at 20 minutes and scaling up, plus talkgroup access plans for the Iridium Extreme PTT handset and the ICOM IC-SAT100 radio.
View Iridium PTT (Push-To-Talk) plans →Iridium GO!
IridiumFor: Someone who wants to turn a smartphone into a satellite hub for calls, texts, weather and GPS tracking.
Not for: Anyone expecting broadband speeds; GO! carries voice, texts and specific weather and email apps over its own Wi-Fi, not general internet browsing.
Plans: Monthly plans from Emergency Monthly up to 150 Mins Monthly, plus prepaid blocks of 400 or 1,000 GO! minutes.
View Iridium GO! plans →Iridium Paging
IridiumFor: One-way alerting for the Iridium 9501 pager, where a short incoming message matters more than a conversation.
Not for: Anyone who needs to talk back; paging is receive-only.
Plans: A single Unlimited Monthly plan or an Unlimited Annual plan.
View Iridium Paging plans →Inmarsat
InmarsatFor: IsatPhone 2 owners who want long battery life and rugged, weather-sealed reliability worldwide outside the polar regions.
Not for: Anyone operating near the poles, where Inmarsat's geostationary satellites lose coverage.
Plans: Monthly plans from 20 to 720 minutes, prepaid blocks from 100 to 5000 units valid up to 90 or 365 days, and an Emergency Annual plan.
View Inmarsat plans →Thuraya
ThurayaFor: Travelers and dual-mode users who want a handset that also works on GSM networks across Thuraya's coverage footprint.
Not for: Anyone outside Thuraya's geostationary coverage footprint.
Plans: Prepaid plans from 20 to 2500 units covering both voice and SMS from one balance.
View Thuraya plans →Side by side
Iridium, Inmarsat, Thuraya and Iridium GO! side by side
| Iridium | Inmarsat | Thuraya | Iridium GO! | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage | Whole planet including both poles | Worldwide except the polar regions | Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia | Whole planet including both poles, via the Iridium network |
| Plan types | Monthly, annual, prepaid and regional plans | Monthly, prepaid and an Emergency Annual plan | Prepaid plans only | Monthly and prepaid plans |
| Best for | Voice calls anywhere on earth | Long battery life and rugged reliability outside the poles | Dual-mode GSM and satellite voice across four continents | Turning a smartphone into a satellite voice, text and tracking hub |
| Hardware | Iridium 9555 and Extreme 9575 handsets | IsatPhone 2 | X5-Touch, XT-PRO and XT-LITE handsets, plus SatSleeve | Iridium GO! and GO! exec |
Popular picks
Plans people start with
Popular Iridium monthly minutes
These are the Iridium monthly minute plans most callers land on: enough headroom for regular check-ins without paying for minutes that go unused each month.
Iridium GO! for messaging and voice
For a smartphone-based hub rather than a dedicated handset, these GO! plans cover regular voice and messaging use without the cost of a full broadband plan.
Picking a network first
Every phone plan here is tied to one network, and the handset decides which plans you can even buy. An Iridium phone only takes an Iridium plan, an IsatPhone only takes an Inmarsat plan, and a Thuraya handset only takes a Thuraya plan. Iridium's low earth orbit satellites cover the whole planet, poles included, which is why search and rescue teams, polar researchers and offshore crews default to it. Inmarsat's geostationary satellites cover everywhere except the polar regions, which is fine for most travel and fieldwork. Thuraya covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia and doubles as a normal GSM phone when you are in range of a cell tower. If your trip also needs data rather than just voice, look at Land Data instead of a phone plan.
Push-to-talk, paging and GO!
Three of the networks on this page solve a narrower problem than a phone plan in general. Iridium PTT replaces a two-way radio for a crew that needs to talk to everyone at once, not dial one number at a time; it only works with the Iridium Extreme PTT handset or the ICOM IC-SAT100 radio, both sold at satellite phones and radios. Iridium GO! is not a phone: it is a Wi-Fi hub, sold at hotspot devices, that gives a paired smartphone voice, texting and weather over satellite. Iridium Paging is narrower still, a one-way alert to the Iridium 9501 pager for teams who need to know something happened, not to talk about it.
Activation and support
Every plan here is provisioned by Satmodo's activations team, who load the SIM or terminal and confirm by email once it is live, so nobody using a plan has to configure anything themselves. If a trip is already booked and the gear itself is the missing piece rather than airtime, renting is usually faster than buying outright; rental airtime is sold separately alongside the equipment. Questions about a specific plan or which handset a plan requires are best answered directly, so route them to support.satmodo.com before checkout.
Questions
Phone Service plan questions, answered
Not covered here? The help centre has dialing guides, activation steps and coverage maps for every network.
Help centreA monthly plan makes sense for regular use, since it renews automatically until you cancel it. A prepaid plan makes more sense for a single trip or seasonal use, since it is a fixed block of minutes with an expiry date and no renewal to remember. Annual plans exist too, pricing a year of minutes up front. If your usage varies a lot month to month, prepaid avoids paying for a renewal you might not need.
Still not sure which network to pick?
If none of the six networks above feels obviously right, call (800) 279-2366 and describe the trip: where it is, how remote, and whether you need voice, push-to-talk, paging or just a smartphone hub. A short conversation is faster than guessing wrong and re-ordering a plan you cannot use.
Every plan
All Phone Service plans
Sort by price using the toolbar below; each network page above has its own Price and Plan Type filters.